Unable to access google.com using firefox or IE8

when tried ping test results were request timed out

which for me shows as 209.85.227.103

Open the Command Prompt window again and type in;

ping 209.85.227.103

then press Enter.

This also pings www.google.com, but uses the IP address instead of the host name. If that succeeds then I suspect your Hosts file is blocking www.google.com

I should have said, to close that Command Prompt window, just type exit at the prompt, but if you didn't do that, no harm done.

Tell us the results.

Note, I am out of my comfort zone here, so I may not be of much help.

Mark

when I used the IP address 209.85.227.103 here is what I saw
bytes=32 time=126ms TTL=51

Did the ping just show the one response? Usually there is a list of 4.

If you see all 4 with similar response times, then that means your computer can resolve IP addresses.

Do you use any security software like Spybot Search & Destroy, or security suites like Nortons or McAfee? Any browser add-ons?

Try this;

Open My Computer, highlight your C drive, and expand it, (click the + sign next to the C drive).

Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\Etc, (the sub-folder is called Etc), and highlight that Etc folder. It should list a number of files in the right hand pane. There should be a file there called Hosts. If you cannot see it, it may be hidden, so goto Tools > Folder options, then in the View tab select "Show hidden files and folders". Whilst you are there, de-select "Hide extensions for known file types".

The Hosts file is a file without a file extension. It is what every browser checks through first whenever the browser attempts to connect to the internet to search for a web site and it resolves web site names into IP addresses which allows for a quicker connection. This file can be used to either redirect the browser to different web sites, or it can be used to block access to web sites.

Open your Hosts file by right clicking it, and selecting "Open with". You want to select Notepad, but please make sure that the option to "Always use this application to open this type of file" is not selected.

When the file is open, search for anything that has google.com, or www.google.com, or similar. If you find an entry does it look like, "127.0.0.1 www.google.com"?

If so, then any browser trying to connect to Google will fail, as it will loop back to your own computer, (that is what the 127.0.0.1 is, your own computer). If you find an entry, highlight the whole line, and delete it.

You then have to save the file, but you must use File > Save As, and not just Save. This is because Notepad will attempt to save the file as a .txt file, eg Hosts.txt, but that won't work. Select Save as, then change the "Save as type" to "All files (*)"; make sure the file name only says Hosts. Click Save.

Restart your browser and try to connect to www.google.com.

Let me know if that works.

Mark

Yes the message appeared 4 times I found several google refernces in the host file but none like www. google.com. What I found were google.planet.org, google3.it google4.it etc

What were they directed to?

Also, what security software do you use?

Mark

all the google.en,google.uk in hosts file were directed to my IP address 89.149.249.195 the google beside 127.0.0.1 was directed to local host.

and thanks for telling me.

Mark

My friend has a PC that runs Windows 7, and he had this problem of not being able to access Google. Everything was fine until I attempted to save the edited file - Windows 7 Notepad didn't have the "All files (*)" option under "Save as type". So, what I did first was to make a copy of the file and put it into a "Temp Files" directory under C:\. Then I looked at Properties for the Hosts file and unchecked the "Read-only" and "Hidden" boxes. After that I put up the Command window (Start>Accessories>Command Prompt, and changed directories, as necessary, until I reached the Hosts file. Then I used the Edit command to remove the respective lines that redirected Google and Bing, and then I saved the file using "Save as..." and overwrote the original file. Finally, I clicked on the Google icon and, voila! Google came up.

Thank you, MarkF;ax/

Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
173.83.222.101 tomshardware.co.uk
173.83.222.101 www.tomshardware.co.uk
173.83.222.101 www.gmail.com
173.83.222.101 gmail.com
this is a part of my host file.what I have to do with it. plz tell me.i am in big trouble.plz help me.it says u don't have permission to save in this folder contact administrator.would u like to save in MY DOCUMENTS Folder instead?
plz help
I would be very grateful to u.
Thank You

173.83.222.101 (a malicious website, which attempts to force computer users into completing online surveys) was easy to research.

You should delete those entries and complete the scans noted by GRIF AT ...
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-6122_102-5509131.html?tag=posts;msg5509131

As to the PERMISSIONS, that's been discussed hundreds of times. Here's just one of many.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923947
Bob

PS. DO NOT POST NEW PROBLEMS IN SUCH OLD POSTS. It may go unnoticed.
" This thread is more than 1963 days old. "

When I tried to ping 209.85.227.103, it said request timed out.

Hi there,

The ping worked but when I try to open google.com from firefox, this is what I get. File not found. Firefox can't find the file at /C:/Documents and Settings/basim/Application Data/Google_Toolbar/Google_Toolbar/1.0.0.0/MyGoogle.html. Please help.